POR/Dolphin decision making...

[tzolkin]

Just thought I would get a little input from all of you to help talk me through this. I am home with my sick DS, called the Dolphin, and now rethinking our trip.

We are currently booked for 11 nights at POR (Monday through the following Friday) with a 20% off PIN. We got 8 day YES tickets so we are planning to arrive Monday, do 4 park days (T-F), take the weekend off (DTD, swimming, outdoor movie, MIL may come up for one night, etc), and then do 4 more full park days.

I just called to find out the price for the Dolphin with the NY superbowl rate. It winds up being about $300 more than what we're paying for POR.

We have never stayed at either resort, but I have done a good bit of research on both since we are a family of 5 and they are the most budget friendly choices

So now I have three options:

1. Stick with POR-- We never cared much for the theming, which is why we've held off staying here as long as we could. But since we booked, we've been getting excited about it. I think it would be nice to have the new queen beds and the murphy bed and the boat to DTD would be nice for our park-free weekend

2. Switch to the Dolphin (+$300)-- We spend at least half of our trip at Epcot and we always thought it would be really nice to be able to walk or take the boat to Epcot and HS. We've also never explored the Boardwalk or any of the resorts in this area. However, we're travelling in late August and my younger two kids will be 6 and 8 (also have a teen DD). Will it be too hot/miserable for additional walking? Perhaps we should put off staying here until the kids are a bit older?

3. Do a split stay (+under $100)-- Stay 5 nights at POR, then move to the Dolphin on Saturday. We have done a split stay before and we would just be hanging around the resort Sat/Sunday anyway.

I am fairly certain we will be going back to Disney and we will likely stay at both of these resorts at some point, so I'm not factoring it being our "only opportunity" into the decision. Also, we drive and will not do the dining plan this trip so those are not issues with the Dolphin for us.

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[Missytara]

I have stayed at both, and quite frankly with kids, I would stick with POR or do the split stay.

In the $300.00 more category, were you looking at just room rate, or did you add in parking and the daily resort fee as well?

Also, if you expect to use ME, you won't be eligible for one leg of your trip with the Dolphin.

 

[tzolkin]

The $300 was including the resort fee ($15.75 w/tax) and parking ($15) for all the nights. The special offer is Buy2/Get1 night free, but you still have to pay the resort fee and parking for the "free" nights. Although, she didn't give me a total over the phone, so now I'm not sure if she was including tax on the room rate. If not, the total could be $150-200 more.

We drive to FL so ME is not a concern.


My parents stayed at the Swan for a conference a few years ago, and they also have mentioned several times that they prefer to stay at the Disney resorts with the kids. But the location is appealing and the S/D seem to be well loved by many Dis members so I thought we would give it a try as a cheaper option than a Disney Deluxe for a family of 5. But I am also wondering if it would be better when all my kids are teens?

 

[Missytara]

I stayed at the Dolphin, but I was by myself.

The only downside I thought was how expensive a glass of wine was..... oops.

As far as food court comparision, I think Dolphin slightly edges out, but it is close.

As far as restaurant wise, I don't think there is any comparision, unless you count the options of the water taxi to SSR/OKW and DTD.

As far as pool-wise, POR has more pool options.

POR also now has the daily activities at the pool, as well as the movies on the courtyard. That slightly edges out the Dolphin.

Dolphin has access to the BW, which I love.

The size of the room and amentities is far outweighed at the Dolphin.

The bus option at POR/POFQ is better than Swan/Dolphin, but the water transportation options make Swan/Dolphin better getting to the parks.

I think you cannot go wrong either way.

 

[mydisneyobsession]

I did the same debate between POR and the Dolphin for our next trip. Like you, we are a family of five. We decided on a split stay between the two resorts.

The park transportation at the Swan and Dolphin is excellent, and on our last stay at the there, the boats allowed us to park hop a lot more easily. Our kids are young, and when we stayed at Port Orleans in the past, we never made it back out in the evening. Something about the bus transportation made it seem more daunting, maybe? At the Swan and Dolphin, it's so quick and easy to hop on the boats to DHS or Epcot, and we ended up at those parks (or out on the Boardwalk) every evening.

As a result, our itinerary will be more "park-intensive" during our Dolphin stay and a bit more laid back while we are at POR. The expanded activity schedule is new since our last visit at Port Orleans, so we look forward to the more "Disney-style" resort activities there, and some quieter evenings.

About the outdoor movie - the Swan and Dolphin resorts share the outdoor movie with the Boardwalk and Beach Club. We plan to walk over to Stormalong Bay to watch the outdoor movie during the Dolphin leg of our stay because we can sit in Beach Chairs. From what I understand, the Port Orleans movie doesn't have seating, and sitting on the ground doesn't really appeal to me! This may not be accurate, but it's what I've seen so far in my research.

Both are great resorts - I'm sure your teenager would love having access to the Boardwalk area! Good luck, and have fun deciding!

 

[tzolkin]

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

DH and I are going to have to talk this through tonight. I really can't make up my mind, so maybe a split stay would be fun. We didn't discuss that option. He just asked me to call and find out about the price and was going to leave it up to me to decide between the two.

 

[Robert P]

It sounds like a split stay would be in the cards.....

 

[mbonaccorse77]

I would stay where you are..its emotionally and physically exhausting to change hotels midstay....

 

[LaurenT]

I was told that I'd have to pay the resort fee for the free nights, but when I booked, I didn't have to! You'll probably have to pay the parking though....(I won't have a car that trip).
Keep in mind that, since it's buy 2 get 1 and you have an 11 day trip planned, you can stay and extra day at the Dolphin!
I was contemplating the same thing...POR, CSR or Dolphin for 7 days in August...
I wound up doing 9 days at the Dolphin, and for me, without a car, it was a little cheaper than CSR..even with town car transfer from the airport!

 

[Belle83]

Everyone says the resort fee isn't optional, but when I stayed there in May, the signs in the room and the internet log on screen indicated that it was an optional thing.

I was deciding between the same two hotels for our last trip. Ultimately, we chose the Dolphin. I think free dining was going on for POR, but I didn't know this. We booked a standard room at the Dolphin for $129/night (through Travelocity, which is pretty much non-refundable), excluding parking/resort fees. For us, it was cheaper than POR. We were going to be renting a car anyway. It was my SO's first trip to WDW so the more adult atmosphere appealed to me. When I showed him pictures of POR, he was not that impressed (though now he would stay there, lol).

I personally wouldn't do a split-stay, and would give the slight edge to the Dolphin. I say the Dolphin because you'll be at Epcot a lot and it's sooo close. With a teenager, especially, the Dolphin's location is great. On the other hand, an extra $300 could be used for dining, souvenirs, etc..

 

[J'aime Paris]

I vote for the split stay...it will feel like 2 mini vacations

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Dolphin! - Bigger rooms, better transportation, great pool.
It is so nice to be able to just walk over to EPCOT and DHS. Also the boardwalk is a lot of fun at night!

 

[LaurenT]

I vote for the split stay...it will feel like 2 mini vacations

I think if you're going to do the Dolphin, it should be for the whole stay...
You're getting it for 2/3 the price. You'd be staying 12 nights for the price of 8!
Having said that, split stay is pretty painless at Disney. We did it last trip because we wanted to be in Beach Club for F&W, but it wasn't available for the first night. So we stayed AKL for the first night, next morning we left our bags with bell services, went to Epcot for the day and when we were done we just walked over to Beach Club and our villa was waiting for us!

 

[lizabu]

I love the Swan and Dolphin but I would only switch if it was cheaper. $300 more...no way

 

[jujube]

We do split stays al the time. It's very easy:
1. Tell whichever resort you're staying in first that you will be moving to resort B.
2. Make sure your bags are packed the night before-I have teens
3. Call bell services and tell them that you would like your bags transferred to Resort B or bring the bags to the bell stand yourself and tell them.
4. Go to the parks, have a marvelous day.
5. Not long after 3:30 pm, your bags will be at resort B. Easy peasy.
We've done this 15 times and never had 1 problem.

 

[TaraPA]

I would stay where you are..its emotionally and physically exhausting to change hotels midstay....

Huh?

I've done split stays & never once has it been "emotionally or physically exhasuting" - it would only be that way if you MADE it that way!

The hardest part is packing up the night before the move - we only travel with carry-ons so it literally takes 10 min. You drop your things with Bell Services in the morning on your way out to a park, and they are delivered to the new resort for you. You return back to the new resort after your day in the parks. Easy peasy. You do have a car, so that's probably even easier to move the bags yourself. I don't see what could possibly be emotional, physical or exhausting about it

We think it's actaully more fun to have another resort experience to look forward to - and we've never gone as long as you have. With a trip that long we'd probably opt for a triple split stay! I vote to do the split stay. You may fall in love with the Epcot Resort Area - the location is absolutely perfect.

 

[tzolkin]

We have done a split stay before (Pop to CSR) and I didn't think it was difficult.

Also we are planning to take Saturday/Sunday off from the parks and if doing a split stay we would move on Saturday. We would likely let the kids swim/enjoy POR while I packed up and then we would drive ourselves over to the Dolphin. So there wouldn't be any leaving bags and worrying about making it to the parks.


I talked to DH briefly and we seem to both agree to either stay at POR or do the split stay. We will have more time to talk tonight to make a decision. I think we want to at least try POR this trip. Part of what's holding me back from saying absolutely to try the Dolphin is that we have never even seen the Epcot resort area. Every trip we think we're going to walk over there or at least take the boat between HS and Epcot, but we haven't yet. In theory it sounds wonderful, but it would stink if we got there and had to spend 12 days somewhere that was not a good fit for our family. ugh.